Monitoring apparatus, method, and program

ABSTRACT

An entrance and in-store matching unit searches a first mismatched face image that is not matched with a face image captured at an entrance from all face images, which are captured in a store and registered in a biological information DB. An entrance and exit matching unit searches a second mismatched face image that is not matched with a face image captured at an entrance from all the face images, which are captured at an exit and registered in the biological information DB. An exit and in-store matching unit searches a matched face image that is matched with the second mismatched face image among the first mismatched face images. An entrance information registration unit registers the searched matched face image in the biological information DB as the face image captured at the entrance. The present invention can be applied to a monitoring system.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to monitoring apparatus, method, andprogram, particularly to monitoring apparatus, method, and program,which can properly monitor management of shop visit and illegal actionof a player.

2. Background Art

Recently, there are proposed technologies of capturing a face image ofthe player in an amusement shop to monitor the management of shop visitand the illegal action.

For one of the proposed technologies, the following is proposed. Forregister of a suspicious person, using a face image in the amusementshop, based on illegal action information detected in the amusementmachine, the face image of a person playing a game with the amusementmachine is registered as the face image of the suspicious person (seePatent Document 1).

There is also proposed a technology of managing a visit and leavinghistory by capturing the face image of the player who visits the shopwith cameras placed in an entrance and an exit (for example, see PatentDocument 2).

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.    2001-178958-   Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.    2007-020653

However, in the technology of Patent Document 1, in the case where theillegal action cannot be detected in the amusement machine, there is alikelihood of not being able to register the face image of the player asthe suspicious person.

In the technology of Patent Document 2, due to natural light ordisturbance light, such as headlights of a vehicle, sometimes the faceimage of the player cannot be well captured at a doorway of the storewhen the player visits the amusement shop. In such cases where adetermination that the player who visits the store does not exist or adetermination that the player who visits the store does not leave thestore is made, there is a likelihood that the player who visits thestore cannot be correctly managed or monitored.

Many cameras are placed in the doorway as means for preventing a failureto capture the face image. Although the failure to capture the faceimage can be avoided to some extent, there is a likelihood that themanagement becomes complicated because the number of cameras thatcapture the image of the doorway is increased to capture the same personplural times.

In view of the foregoing, an object of at least one embodiment of thepresent invention is to be able to properly manage the visit of theplayer and monitor the illegal action of the suspicious person such thatthe registered face image can properly be managed while the face imageof the person to be registered is correctly registered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an aspect of at least one embodiment of the presentinvention, a monitoring apparatus comprises: image capturing means forcapturing a face image of a matching target person in at least first tothird areas; storage means for storing the face image of the matchingtarget person captured in each of the first to third areas in a databasetogether with information identifying each of the first to third areas;first search means for matching the face images captured in the firstarea among the face images registered in the database against the faceimages captured in the second area, and searching a first mismatchedface image that is not matched with the face images captured in thefirst area from all the face images captured in the second area; secondsearch means for matching the face images captured in the first areaamong the face images registered in the database against the face imagescaptured in the third area, and searching a second mismatched face imagethat is not matched with the face images captured in the first area fromall the face images captured in the third area; third search means forsearching a matched face image, which is matched with the secondmismatched face image, among the first mismatched face images; andregistration means for registering the matched face image searched bythe third search means in the database as the face image captured in thefirst area.

The registration means may register the matched face image searched bythe third search means in the database as the face image captured in thefirst area instead of the face image, which is not matched with both theface images captured in the second area and the face images captured inthe third area, among the face images captured in the first area.

The image capturing means may capture a face image of a player whovisits an amusement shop from an entrance of the amusement shop in thefirst area, capture the face image of the player who moves in theamusement shop in the second area, and capture the face image of theplayer who leaves the amusement shop from an exit in the third area.

The registration means may register the matched face image searched bythe third search means in the database as the face image captured at theentrance instead of the face image, which is not matched with both theface images captured in the amusement shop and the face images capturedat the exit, among the face images captured at the entrance.

The registration means may register the matched face image in thedatabase instead of the face image, which is captured at the entrance ata clock time close to a clock time at which the matched face imagesearched by the third search means is initially captured, among the faceimages each of which is not matched with both the face images capturedin the amusement shop and the face images captured at the exit among theface images captured at the entrance.

In accordance with another aspect of at least one embodiment of thepresent invention, a method for monitoring a monitoring apparatuscomprises: image capturing means for capturing a face image of amatching target person in at least first to third areas; storage meansfor storing the face image of the matching target person captured ineach of the first to third areas in a database together with informationidentifying each of the first to third areas; first search means formatching the face images captured in the first area among the faceimages registered in the database against the face images captured inthe second area, and searching a first mismatched face image that is notmatched with the face images captured in the first area from all theface images captured in the second area; second search means formatching the face images captured in the first area among the faceimages registered in the database against the face images captured inthe third area, and searching a second mismatched face image that is notmatched with the face images captured in the first area from all theface images captured in the third area; third search means for searchinga matched face image, which is matched with the second mismatched faceimage, among the first mismatched face images; and registration meansfor registering the matched face image searched by the third searchmeans in the database as the face image captured in the first area, themonitoring apparatus monitoring method includes: an image capturingstep, in the image capturing means, of capturing the face image of thematching target person in at least the first to third areas; a storagestep, in the storage means, of storing the face image of the matchingtarget person captured in each of the first to third areas in thedatabase together with the information identifying each of the first tothird areas; a first search step, in the first search means, of matchingthe face images captured in the first area among the face imagesregistered in the database against the face images captured in thesecond area, and searching the first mismatched face image that is notmatched with the face images captured in the first area from all theface images captured in the second area; a second search step, in thesecond search means, of matching the face images captured in the firstarea among the face images registered in the database against the faceimages captured in the third area, and searching the second mismatchedface image that is not matched with the face images captured in thefirst area from all the face images captured in the third area; a thirdsearch step, in the third search means, of searching the matched faceimage, which is matched with the second mismatched face image, among thefirst mismatched face images; and a registration step, in theregistration means, of registering the matched face image searched bythe third search step processing in the database as the face imagecaptured in the first area.

In accordance with still another aspect of at least one embodiment ofthe present invention, a program causes a computer to performprocessing, the computer controlling a monitoring apparatus comprising:image capturing means for capturing a face image of a matching targetperson in at least first to third areas; storage means for storing theface image of the matching target person captured in each of the firstto third areas in a database together with information identifying eachof the first to third areas; first search means for matching the faceimages captured in the first area among the face images registered inthe database against the face images captured in the second area, andsearching a first mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the second area; second search means for matching the face imagescaptured in the first area among the face images registered in thedatabase against the face images captured in the third area, andsearching a second mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the third area; third search means for searching a matched faceimage, which is matched with the second mismatched face image, among thefirst mismatched face images; and registration means for registering thematched face image searched by the third search means in the database asthe face image captured in the first area, the processing including: animage capturing step, in the image capturing means, of capturing theface image of the matching target person in at least the first to thirdareas; a storage step, in the storage means, of storing the face imageof the matching target person captured in each of the first to thirdareas in the database together with the information identifying each ofthe first to third areas; a first search step, in the first searchmeans, of matching the face images captured in the first area in theface images registered in the database against the face images capturedin the second area, and searching the first mismatched face image thatis not matched with the face images captured in the first area from allthe face images captured in the second area; a second search step, inthe second search means, of matching the face images captured in thefirst area among the face images registered in the database against theface images captured in the third area, and searching the secondmismatched face image that is not matched with the face images capturedin the first area from all the face images captured in the third area; athird search step, in the third search means, of searching the matchedface image, which is matched with the second mismatched face image,among the first mismatched face images; and a registration step, in theregistration means, of registering the matched face image searched bythe third search step processing in the database as the face imagecaptured in the first area.

In one aspect of at least one embodiment of the present invention, theface image of the matching target person is captured in at least thefirst to third areas, the face image of the matching target personcaptured in each of the first to third areas is stored in the databasetogether with information identifying each of the first to third areas,the face images captured in the first area among the face imagesregistered in the database are matched against the face images capturedin the second area and the first mismatched face image that is notmatched with the face images captured in the first area is searched fromall the face images captured in the second area; the face imagescaptured among the first area in the face images registered in thedatabase are matched against the face images captured in the third areaand the second mismatched face image that is not matched with the faceimages captured in the first area is searched from all the face imagescaptured in the third area, the matched face image matched with thesecond mismatched face image is searched among the first mismatched faceimages, and the matched face image searched by the third search means isregistered in the database as the face image captured in the first area.

In the monitoring apparatus in accordance with one aspect of at leastone embodiment of the present invention, image capturing means forcapturing the face image of the matching target person in at least thefirst to third areas is, for example, a camera, the storage means forstoring the face image of the matching target person captured in each ofthe first to third areas in the database together with the informationidentifying each of the first to third areas is a biological informationdatabase, the first search means for matching the face images capturedin the first area among the face images registered in the databaseagainst the face images captured in the second area and searching thefirst mismatched face image that is not matched with the face imagescaptured in the first area from all the face images captured in thesecond area is, for example, an entrance and in-store matching unit, thesecond search means for matching the face images captured in the firstarea among the face images registered in the database against the faceimages captured in the third area and searching a second mismatched faceimage that is not matched with the face images captured in the firstarea from all the face images captured in the third area is, forexample, an entrance and exit matching unit, the third search means forsearching a matched face image, which is matched with the secondmismatched face image, among the first mismatched face images is, forexample, an exit and in-store matching unit, and the registration meansfor registering the matched face image searched by the third searchmeans in the database as the face image captured in the first area is,for example, an entrance information registration unit.

For example, in the case where the face images of the matching targetperson are captured in the first to third areas, it is assumed that theface image of the matching target person is captured in the first areathat is of the entrance of the amusement shop, the second area that isof an inside of the store, and the third area that is of the exit. Atthis point, in the neighborhood of the entrance that is of the firstarea, the face image is unclear due to backlight, or the face image isunclear by overexposure due to the lighting of the vehicle duringnighttime.

Therefore, the entrance and exit matching unit searches the face image,which is not matched with the face images captured in the first areathat is of the entrance, as the first mismatched face image from theface images captured at the exit that is of the third area, and theentrance and in-store matching unit searches the face image, which isnot matched with the face images captured in the first area that is ofthe entrance, as the second mismatched face image from the face imagescaptured in the store that is of the second area. The exit and in-storematching unit searches the face image matched with the first mismatchedface image among the second mismatched face images. Even if a personsearched by the exit and in-store matching unit does not have the faceimage matched with the face image captured in the first area that is ofthe entrance, the face image of the person is assumed to be a face imageof a person who visits the store, and the face image searched by theexit and in-store matching unit is registered while inserted in a faceimage, which is captured in the first area that is of the entrance at aclock time closest to a clock time at which the person is initiallycaptured.

The face image, which is captured in areas, such as the entrance, inwhich the face image capturing condition is severe and the clear faceimage is hardly captured, and the face image that is unclearly captureddue to the backlight or the overexposure are newly registered using theplurality of face images that exist undoubtedly in the store or at theexit. As a result, in the case where a behavioral pattern of the personin the amusement shop is obtained based on the face image captured atthe entrance, the correct behavioral pattern can be obtained byguaranteeing a relationship with the face image captured in anotherarea, and the management of the visit of the player to the shop can beproperly monitored.

According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, the visitof the player can properly be managed and the illegal action of thesuspicious person can properly be monitored.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a configuration of a monitoring systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an installation example of cameras in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an installation example of the camera inFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating an installation example of the cameras inFIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an installation example of the camera inFIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an installation example of the camera inFIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an installation example of the camera inFIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an installation example of an entrancecamera, an exit camera, and an in-store camera in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a configuration example of an imageprocessing unit in FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a configuration example of a biologicalinformation recognizer of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating monitoring processing performed bythe biological information recognizer in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating similarity calculation processing inFIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a configuration example of an area table.

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating a configuration example of a biologicalinformation database.

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating a configuration example of an areamovement history database.

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an example of a pattern table insuspicious person provisional registration processing.

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating an example of a pattern table insuspicious person definitive registration processing.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating face image management processing.

FIG. 19 is a view illustrating the face image management processing.

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating a configuration example of a biologicalinformation recognizer according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating monitoring processing performed bythe biological information recognizer in FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating suspicious person registration processingin the monitoring processing performed by the biological informationrecognizer in FIG. 20.

FIG. 23 is a view illustrating a configuration example of a personalcomputer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below.

A monitoring apparatus in accordance with one aspect of at least oneembodiment of the present invention includes: image capturing means (forexample, an entrance camera 40, an in-store camera 41, and an exitcamera 42 in FIG. 1) for capturing a face image of a matching targetperson in at least first to third areas; storage means (for example, anarea movement history DB 20 and a biological information database 22 inFIG. 10) for storing the face image of the matching target personcaptured in each of the first to third areas in a database together withinformation identifying each of the first to third areas; first searchmeans (for example, an entrance and in-store matching unit 262 in FIG.10) for matching the face images captured in the first area in the faceimages registered in the database against the face images captured inthe second area, and searching a first mismatched face image that is notmatched with the face images captured in the first area from all theface images captured in the second area; second search means (forexample, an entrance and exit matching unit 261 in FIG. 10) for matchingthe face images captured in the first area in the face images registeredin the database against the face images captured in the third area, andsearching a second mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the third area; third search means (for example, an exit and in-storematching unit 263 in FIG. 10) for searching a matched face image, whichis matched with the second mismatched face image, in the firstmismatched face images; and registration means (for example, an entranceinformation registration unit 264) for registering the matched faceimage searched by the third search means in the database as the faceimage captured in the first area.

A method in accordance with one aspect of at least one embodiment of thepresent invention for monitoring a monitoring apparatus including: imagecapturing means for capturing a face image of a matching target personin at least first to third areas; storage means for storing the faceimage of the matching target person captured in each of the first tothird areas in a database together with information identifying each ofthe first to third areas; first search means for matching the faceimages captured in the first area in the face images registered in thedatabase against the face images captured in the second area, andsearching a first mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the second area; second search means for matching the face imagescaptured in the first area in the face images registered in the databaseagainst the face images captured in the third area, and searching asecond mismatched face image that is not matched with the face imagescaptured in the first area from all the face images captured in thethird area; third search means for searching a matched face image, whichis matched with the second mismatched face image, in the firstmismatched face images; and registration means for registering thematched face image searched by the third search means in the database asthe face image captured in the first area, the monitoring apparatusmonitoring method includes: an image capturing step (for example, StepS2 in FIG. 11), in the image capturing means, of capturing the faceimage of the matching target person in at least the first to thirdareas; a storage step (for example, Step S27 in FIG. 11), in the storagemeans, of storing the face image of the matching target person capturedin each of the first to third areas in the database together with theinformation identifying each of the first to third areas; a first searchstep (for example, Step S103 in FIG. 18), in the first search means, ofmatching the face images captured in the first area in the face imagesregistered in the database against the face images captured in thesecond area, and searching the first mismatched face image that is notmatched with the face images captured in the first area from all theface images captured in the second area; a second search step (forexample, Step S108 in FIG. 18), in the second search means, of matchingthe face images captured in the first area in the face images registeredin the database against the face images captured in the third area, andsearching the second mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the third area; a third search step (for example, Steps S111 and S113in FIG. 18), in the third search means, of searching the matched faceimage, which is matched with the second mismatched face image, in thefirst mismatched face images; and a registration step (for example, StepS116 in FIG. 18), in the registration means, of registering the matchedface image searched by the third search means in the database as theface image captured in the first area.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Thedescription is made as follows.

1. First embodiment (an example singularly performed by a biologicalinformation recognizer)

2. Second embodiment (an example performed based on a staff manipulationof an amusement shop in response to information presented by abiological information recognizer)

First Embodiment [Configuration Example of Monitoring System of FirstEmbodiment]

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a configuration example of an amusementshop monitoring system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Amusement shops 1-1 to 1-n are what are called pachinko parlors,pachisuro (a slot machine in the pachinko parlor) parlors, or casinos.The amusement shops 1-1 to 1-n are also affiliated stores or memberstores of a biological information management center or a third-partyamusement shop management center. In the amusement shops 1-1 to 1-n, aplurality of stores need to be integrally managed. The amusement shops1-1 to 1-n are connected to one another by a biological informationmanagement bus 6 and a third-party amusement shop management bus 7. Theamusement shops 1-1 to 1-n transmit and receive biological informationand third-party amusement shop management information to and from oneanother through the buses 6 and 7 and public communication line networks8 and 9 typified by the Internet. Hereinafter, the amusement shops 1-1to 1-n are simply referred to as an amusement shop 1 unless otherwisenoted. It is assumed that the same holds true for other configurations.

The biological information management bus 6 acts as a transmission linethrough which the biological information mainly managed by a biologicalinformation recognizer 21 of each amusement shop 1 flows. Thethird-party amusement shop management bus 7 acts as a transmission linethrough which the medium lending management information mainly managedby a medium lending management device 27 of each amusement shop 1 flows.

A biological information management center 2 is a server that is used bya business operator who manages and operates the biological informationmanagement center. The biological information management center 2updates a registered player database (hereinafter also referred to as aDB) managed in a biological information management database 3 based onan unregistered player DB generated by each amusement shop 1, anddistributes the updated latest registered player DB to the biologicalinformation recognizer 21 of each amusement shop 1.

A third-party amusement shop management center 4 is a server that isused by a business operator who manages and operates the third-partyamusement shop management center. The third-party amusement shopmanagement center 4 updates a DB including medium lending managementinformation, which is managed in a third-party amusement shop managementdatabase (DB) 5, based on information supplied from each amusement shop1, and distributes the updated latest medium lending managementinformation to the medium lending management device 27 of each amusementshop 1.

The biological information recognizer 21 matches a face image, which iscaptured by cameras 38-1 to 38-m, entrance cameras 40-1 to 40-p,in-store cameras 41-1 to 41-q, exit cameras 42-1 to 42-r, and a countercamera 43, against a face image previously registered in a biologicalinformation DB 22, based on information on a face image extracted byimage processing units 39-1 to 39-(m+p+q+r+1) and supplied through abiological information bus 31. When the face images match up with eachother, the face image is registered in an area movement history database20 together with information specifying the captured area whilecorrelated with the matched face image or a personal ID identifying theface image. The biological information recognizer 21 makes a provisionalregistration of a suspicious person flag indicating a suspicious personwhile correlating the suspicious person flag with the face image of thebiological information database 22, when a pattern of the area thatemerges frequently in taking illegal action is detected based on theinformation on the area that is registered in the movement historydatabase 20 while correlated with the personal ID. Additionally, in thecase where the provisional registration of the suspicious person flag ismade, the biological information recognizer 21 makes a definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag, when a behavioral pattern isregistered in the area movement history database 20 in taking theillegal action while the suspicious person is captured at a premiumexchange counter that the suspicious person always uses. When the faceimage matches up with the face image to which the suspicious person flagis added, the biological information recognizer 21 notifies a mobileterminal 19 that the suspicious person, normally, a person registered asthe illegal player visits the amusement shop, or activates an alarm bydisplaying the visit of the suspicious person on a display unit 23including an organic EL (Electronic Luminescent) or an LCD (LiquidCrystal Display). When the face image does not match up with the faceimage previously registered in the biological information database 22,the biological information recognizer 21 accesses a biologicalinformation management database 3 to register the face image as anunregistered person in an unregistered player DB (not illustrated).Among the face images captured with the entrance camera 40, thebiological information recognizer 21 matches the face image that cannotclearly be captured by overexposure due to back light or light of a headlamp of a vehicle during nighttime against the face image captured withthe in-store camera 41 or the exit camera 42. When the face images matchup with each other, the face image is replaced with clear one.

An amusement shop management device 24 is what is called a hallcomputer, and monitors operations of amusement machines 36-1 to 36-mthrough an amusement shop management information bus 30. The amusementshop management device 24 performs predetermined processing and displaysa processing result on a display unit 23 including the organic EL or theLCD based on information on the number of balls acquired by a player orthe number of payout medals in each amusement machine 36-1 to 36-m,player's call information on each amusement machine 36, or monitoringstates, such as error generation. Using an amusement machine managementDB 26, the amusement shop management device 24 manages pieces ofinformation supplied from a counting machine 35, the amusement machines36-1 to 36-m, and amusement machine peripheral terminals 37-1 to 37-mwhile correlating each of the pieces of information with identificationinformation (for example, an amusement machine identification number)identifying each amusement machine 36.

Using a medium lending management DB 29, the medium lending managementdevice 27 manages medium lending management information on a lentamusement medium based on pieces of information from anadjustment/vending machine 33 and a lending machine 34. When the mediumlending management information registered in the medium lendingmanagement DB 29 is updated, the medium lending management device 27transmits the updated information to the third-party amusement shopmanagement center 4 through the third-party amusement shop managementbus 7 and the public communication line network 9. The medium lendingmanagement device 27 obtains the medium lending management informationsupplied from the third-party amusement shop management center 4 throughthe third-party amusement shop management bus 7 and the publiccommunication line network 9, and accumulates the medium lendingmanagement information in the medium lending management DB 29.

In the case where the player plays the amusement machine 36, the lendingmachine 34 lends the amusement medium to the player according to apredetermined amount of money when receiving the amount of money in cashor by a prepaid card. At this point, the lending machine 34 suppliesinformation on the number of lent amusement mediums to the mediumlending management device 27 together with information on the receivedamount of money or a balance of the prepaid card. Therefore, the mediumlending management device 27 registers the information on the number oflent amusement mediums in the medium lending management database 29together with the information on the received amount of money or thebalance of the prepaid card.

The adjustment/vending machine 33 sells the prepaid card with units toborrow the ball. At this point, the adjustment/vending machine 33supplies the units of the sold prepaid card and the amount of paid moneyto the medium lending management device 27. The adjustment/vendingmachine 33 adjusts an account and pays money based on the balance of theamusement medium that is lent as the units of the prepaid card. At thispoint, the adjustment/vending machine 33 supplies the balance of theprepaid card and the amount of refunded money to the medium lendingmanagement device 27.

The counting machine 35 counts the number of amusement mediums acquiredby the player in playing the amusement machine 36, and outputs acounting result in the form of a magnetic card or a receipt. Asillustrated in FIG. 8, in the case where the amusement medium is thegame ball, the counting machine 35 includes a counting machine 35-1 forone yen per ball and a counting machine 35-2 for four yen per ball.

The player performs a predetermined manipulation to cause each of theamusement machines 36-1 to 36-m to perform the game, and each of theamusement machines 36-1 to 36-m pays the game ball or the medalaccording to what is called a small hit or a big hit.

The amusement machine peripheral terminals 37-1 to 37-m are what arecalled inter-machine devices that are provided corresponding to theamusement machines 36-1 to 36-m, and an inter-machine vending machine(identical to the lending machine 34 in principle) is provided. Theamusement machine peripheral terminal 37 obtains the biologicalinformation on the face image of the player who plays the amusementmachine 36, and the amusement machine peripheral terminal 37 transmitsthe biological information to the biological information recognizer 21together with the amusement machine identification information (theamusement machine identification number). In FIG. 1, by way of example,the cameras 38-1 to 38-m that capture the face image of the player areprovided as a function of obtaining the biological information.

For example, the cameras 38-1 to 38-m may be provided below machinedisplay lamps 61-1 to 61-4 provided, respectively, in upper portions ofthe amusement machines 36-1 to 36-4 as illustrated in FIG. 2 such thatthe face image of the player is captured within a read range δ asillustrated in FIG. 3. Therefore, each camera ID can be simultaneouslyused as an amusement machine ID.

For example, in the cameras 38-1 to 38-m, projections 71-1 to 71-4 maybe provided in the amusement machine peripheral terminals 37-1 to 37-4as illustrated in FIG. 4 such that the face image of the player iscaptured within a read range θ as illustrated in FIG. 5.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the face image of the player maybe captured such that each of the cameras 38-1 to 38-m is provided in acentral portion (on a board of the amusement machine 36) of theamusement machine 36. That is, the camera 38 is installed in aninstallation unit 81 in FIG. 6, thereby capturing the face image of theplayer within a read range φ as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The entrance cameras 40-1 to 40-p, the in-store cameras 41-1 to 41-q,the exit cameras 42-1 to 42-r, and the counter camera 43 are installedat doorways and predetermined sites in the amusement shop 1, and supplythe captured images to the image processing units 39-(m+1) to39-(m+p+q+r+1), respectively.

For example, the entrance cameras 40-1 to 40-p, the in-store cameras41-1 to 41-q, the exit cameras 42-1 to 42-r, and the counter camera 43are installed as illustrated in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 illustrates aninstallation example of the entrance cameras 40-1 to 40-p, the in-storecameras 41-1 to 41-q, the exit cameras 42-1 to 42-r, and the countercamera 43 in the amusement shop 1.

In FIG. 8, doorways 112-1 to 112-3 are provided, and the entrancecameras 40-1 to 40-3 capture the players who are entering the amusementshop 1 through the doorways 112, respectively. The exit cameras 42-1 to42-3 capture the players who are leaving the store through the doorways112, respectively. The in-store cameras 41-1 to 41-10 are installed atpositions in each of which the in-store camera 41 can capture bothsurfaces of each of the island facilities 111-1 to 111-5 in line. Theamusement machines 36 are installed on both surfaces of the islandfacility 111, namely, the amusement machines 36 are installed such thatthe island facility 111 in FIG. 8 is vertically sandwiched therebetween.The counter camera 43 captures the image of the player who exchanges thegame ball acquired by the game or the receipt obtained by counting themedal using the counting machine 35 to a premium corresponding to thenumber of acquired game balls or the receipt at the premium exchangecounter 113. Each of the camera 38, the entrance camera 40, the in-storecamera 41, the exit camera 42, and the counter camera 43 has apan-tilt-zoom function. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 8, thein-store cameras 41-1 to 41-10 are disposed, which allows the images ofall the players who are playing the amusement machines 36 to be capturedby any one of the in-store cameras 41-1 to 41-10.

The in-store camera 41-a is provided in front of the lending machine 34,the in-store camera 41-b is provided in front of the adjustment/vendingmachine 33, the in-store camera 41-c is provided in front of theone-yen/ball counting machine 35-1, and the in-store camera 41-d isprovided in front of the four-yen/ball counting machine 35-2. Therefore,the image of the player who uses the lending machine 34, theadjustment/vending machine 33, and the counting machines 35-1 and 35-2can be captured.

That is, the camera 38, the entrance camera 40, the in-store camera 41,the exit camera 42, and the counter cameras 43 are installed in theamusement shop 1 such that almost all behaviors expected to be taken inthe amusement shop 1 by players, such as the player who visits andleaves the amusement shop 1, the player who plays the amusement machine36, and the player who uses the lending machine 34, theadjustment/vending machine 33, or the counting machines 35-1 and 35-2,can be monitored as illustrated in FIG. 8. The in-store cameras 41 arenot disposed in a doorway of a toilet and each place in the amusementshop, where the illegal action is easily performed although theamusement machine 36 is not placed. However, the in-store cameras 41 maybe provided in the doorway and the place where the illegal action iseasily performed (not illustrated).

[Configuration Example of Image Processing Unit]

A configuration example of the image processing unit 39 will bedescribed below with reference to FIG. 9.

An image obtaining unit 201 obtains the image captured by the camera 38(or the entrance camera 40 or the in-store camera 41), and supplies theimage to a face image extraction unit 202. The face image extractionunit 202 extracts a rectangular image including the face image in theimage supplied from the image obtaining unit 201 using a pattern inwhich regions constituting a face are disposed. The face imageextraction unit 202 supplies the rectangular image to a transmitter 203.The transmitter 203 transmits the face image to the biologicalinformation recognizer 21.

[Configuration Example of Biological Information Recognizer]

A configuration example of the biological information recognizer 21 willbe described below with reference to FIG. 10.

A face image obtaining unit 221 obtains the face image supplied from theimage processing unit 39, and supplies the face image to a matching unit222 and an area specifying unit 229. The matching unit 222 matches theface image obtained by the face image obtaining unit 221 against theface image of the registered player who is previously registered in thebiological information DB 22, and the matching unit 222 supplies amatching result including a degree of similarity to a suspicious persondetermination unit 227 together with the face image. Based on the degreeof similarity, the suspicious person determination unit 227 obtains adetermination result of whether the face image obtained by the faceimage obtaining unit 221 is the face image of the person registered inthe biological information DB 22. When the face image obtained by theface image obtaining unit 221 is the face image of the person registeredin the biological information DB 22, the suspicious person determinationunit 227 determines whether the face image is the suspicious personbased whether the definitive registration or the provisionalregistration of the suspicious person flag is made while correlated withthe face image. The suspicious person determination unit 227 suppliesthe determination result to a suspicious person registration unit 223.

More particularly, a feature quantity extraction unit 231 of thematching unit 222 extracts a feature quantity used to identify the faceimage, and supplies the feature quantity to a similarity calculator 232together with the face image. The similarity calculator 232 extracts thefeature quantity of the face image of the registered player registeredin the biological information DB 22. Using the feature quantity suppliedfrom the feature quantity extraction unit 231, the similarity calculator232 obtains the degree of similarity to the face images of all theregistered players registered in the biological information DB 22. Thesimilarity calculator 232 supplies the face image supplied from the faceimage obtaining unit 221 and the face image having the top degree ofsimilarity to a similarity determination unit 233. More specifically,the similarity calculator 232 obtains a sum of absolute differences,average percentage, and a sum of ratios as the degree of similaritybased on various face feature quantities, such as an interval betweeneyes and a ratio of a length from a chin to a forehead and a length fromthe chin to a nose.

The similarity determination unit 233 accumulates the degree ofsimilarity supplied from the similarity calculator 232 in a buffer 233a, and compares the top degree of similarity of the face image to apredetermined threshold. In the case where the registered face imagehaving the top degree of similarity is similar to the face imagesupplied from the face image obtaining unit 221 (when the degree ofsimilarity of the registered face image is higher than the predeterminedthreshold for the degree of similarity indicating the higher degree ofsimilarity with increasing degree of similarity, or when the degree ofsimilarity of the registered face image is lower than the predeterminedthreshold for the degree of similarity indicating the higher degree ofsimilarity with decreasing degree of similarity) based on the comparisonresult, the similarity determination unit 233 supplies the face imagehaving the top degree of similarity and the information on the degree ofsimilarity to the suspicious person determination unit 227. Thesimilarity determination unit 233 compares the top degree of similarityof the face image to a predetermined threshold. When the registered faceimage having the top degree of similarity is not similar to the faceimage supplied from the face image obtaining unit 221, the similaritydetermination unit 233 registers the top degree of similarity of theface image in an unregistered player database (not illustrated) based onthe comparison result.

In the case where the face image is the player for whom the definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag is made based on the matchingresult from the matching unit 222, the suspicious person determinationunit 227 notifies the display unit 23 that the illegal player, namely,the suspicious person visits the amusement shop 1, and controls acommunication unit 224 to notify the mobile terminal 19 owned by thestaff of the amusement shop 1 that the illegal player visits theamusement shop 1. In the case where the matching result from thematching unit 222 indicates that the face image is not one for whom thedefinitive registration of the suspicious person flag is made, thesuspicious person determination unit 227 supplies the information on theface image to the suspicious person registration unit 223.

When the suspicious person determination unit 227 supplies the faceimage, which is assumed to be the face image in the biologicalinformation DB 22 to make the provisional registration of the suspiciousperson flag although the definitive registration of the suspiciousperson flag is not made, to the suspicious person registration unit 223,the suspicious person registration unit 223 determines whether thedefinitive registration is made. When the provisional registration ofthe suspicious person flag is not made, the suspicious personregistration unit 223 determines whether the provisional registration ofthe suspicious person flag is made. More particularly, the suspiciousperson registration unit 223 includes a provisional registrationdetermination unit 241, a provisional registration unit 242, adefinitive registration determination unit 243, and a definitiveregistration unit 244. When notified of the face image of the matchingresult, the provisional registration determination unit 241 accesses thearea movement history DB 20 to read a history of an area, which isregistered while correlated with the personal ID identifying the faceimage in which the face image is captured. The provisional registrationdetermination unit 241 determines whether the provisional registrationof the suspicious person flag is made based on whether the area ismatched with an area pattern, which is stored in a pattern table 241 aand captured when the suspicious person takes the illegal action. Theprovisional registration determination unit 241 notifies the provisionalregistration unit 242 of a determination result. When the provisionalregistration determination unit 241 issues an instruction to makes theprovisional registration, the provisional registration unit 242 accessesthe biological information DB 22 to make the provisional registration ofthe suspicious person flag with respect to the corresponding face image.When notified of the face image in which the provisional registration ofthe suspicious person flag is made in the matching result, thedefinitive registration determination unit 243 obtains an amusementhistory of the person of the face image from the amusement shopmanagement device 24 while correlating the amusement history with thepersonal ID identifying the face image, and the definitive registrationdetermination unit 243 determines whether the suspicious person flag ofthe definitive registration is made based on whether the amusementhistory is matched with the behavioral pattern, which is stored in apattern table 243 a and performed by the suspicious person in taking theillegal action. The definitive registration determination unit 243notifies the definitive registration unit 244 of the determinationresult. When the definitive registration determination unit 243 issuesthe instruction to make the definitive registration, the definitiveregistration unit 244 accesses the biological information DB 22 to makethe definitive registration of the suspicious person flag with respectto the corresponding face image.

A manipulation unit 225 includes a button, a mouse, a keyboard, and thelike. The manipulation unit 225 generates a manipulation signal when apredetermined operation is performed.

At this point, for example, it is assumed that the degree of similarityindicates a higher value as the face image comes close to the face imageregistered as the registered player indicated by the sum of ratios. Anexample in which the face image is determined to be the face image ofthe registered player corresponding to the degree of similarity when thedegree of similarity is higher than the predetermined threshold will bedescribed. However, for example, in the case where the degree ofsimilarity is expressed by the sum of absolute differences in featurequantity between the captured face image and the face image registeredas the registered player, the similarity determination unit 233 regardsthe captured face image as the face image of the registered player whenthe degree of similarity is lower than a threshold. Alternatively, inthe case of the average ratio, the similarity determination unit 233 canregard the captured face image as the face image of the registeredplayer when the degree of similarity is greater than or equal to apredetermined value and is a value close to 1 in the range of 0 to 1.

When a new registered player database is distributed from the biologicalinformation management center 2, the database management unit 226updates the biological information DB 22 based on the registered playerdatabase. In the case where the entrance camera 40 cannot clearlycapture the face image, for example, due to the back light in visitingthe amusement store 1 or the overexposure by the light of the head lampof the vehicle during the nighttime, the database management unit 226replaces the face image with the face image that is clearly capturedwith the in-store camera 41 or the exit camera 42 in the biologicalinformation DB 22. Therefore, for example, processing of collecting thearea movement history can be performed for each player based on the faceimage captured with the entrance camera 40.

More particularly, the database management unit 226 includes an entranceand exit matching unit 261, an entrance and in-store matching unit 262,an exit and in-store matching unit 263, and an entrance informationregistration unit 264. The entrance and exit matching unit 261 searchesthe face image, which is not matched with the face image captured in thearea near the entrance among the face images captured in the area nearthe exit through the face image matching, as a first mismatched faceimage based on the information in the area history information DB 20.The entrance and in-store matching unit 262 searches the face image,which is not matched with the face image captured in the area near theentrance among the face images captured in the store through the faceimage matching, as a second mismatched face image based on theinformation in the area history information DB 20. The exit and in-storematching unit 263 specifies the matched face image by determiningwhether the face image is matched with the first and second mismatchedface images of the entrance and exit matching unit 261 and the entranceand in-store matching unit 262. The entrance information registrationunit 264 registers the face image, which is specified by the exit andin-store matching unit 263 and captured at a clock time closest to aclock time at which the face image is initially captured in the faceimages common to the two mismatched face images, instead of the faceimage captured with the in-store camera 41 or the face image that iscaptured with the exit camera 42 in the entrance area with the faceimage.

An area specifying unit 229 specifies the area where the obtained imageis captured from the camera ID identifying the camera that captures theimage supplied from the image processing unit 39. More particularly, thearea specifying unit 229 includes an area table 229 a, and specifies thearea where the supplied image is captured based on the information onthe placement area of the camera that is registered while correlatedwith the camera ID registered in the area table 229 a.

When the matching result is matched with the face image registered inthe biological information DB 22, an area movement history recordingunit 228 updates the area movement history DB 20 while correlating thematching result with the information from the corresponding areaspecifying unit 229.

[Monitoring Processing Performed by Biological Information Recognizer 21in FIG. 10]

Next, monitoring processing performed by the biological informationrecognizer 21 in FIG. 10 will be described below with reference to aflowchart in FIG. 11.

In Step S1, the entrance camera 40, the in-store camera 41, the exitcamera 42, or the counter camera 43 determines whether a predeterminedtime elapses, and repeats the determination processing until thepredetermined time elapses.

When the predetermined time elapses in Step S1, the entrance camera 40,the in-store camera 41, the exit camera 42, the counter camera 43captures the image in a placed range and supplies the captured image tothe image processing unit 39 in Step S2. The image obtaining unit 201 ofthe image processing unit 39 obtains the supplied image, and suppliesthe image to the face image extraction unit 202.

In Step S3, the face image extraction unit 202 extracts the face imageof the player from the supplied image and supplies the face image to thetransmitter 203. More specifically, the face image extraction unit 202extracts the face image from the dispositions of the characteristicregions, such as the eyes and the nose, in which skin is exposed, from acolor of the captured image, and the face image extraction unit 202supplies the face image to the transmitter 203.

In Step S4, the transmitter 203 transmits the face image supplied by theface image extraction unit 202 to the biological information recognizer21. At this point, the transmitter 203 transmits the face image to thebiological information recognizer 21 while adding pieces of information,such as the camera ID identifying each of the camera 38, the entrancecamera 40, and the in-store camera 41 and information on the imagecapturing time, to the face image.

In Step S21, the face image obtaining unit 221 of the biologicalinformation recognizer 21 obtains the face image. In Step S22, the faceimage obtaining unit 221 extracts one of unprocessed face images in thesupplied face images, and supplies the unprocessed face image to thefeature quantity extraction unit 231.

In Step S23, the feature quantity extraction unit 231 of the matchingunit 222 extracts the feature quantity from the supplied face image, andsupplies the feature quantity to the similarity calculator 232 togetherwith the face image.

In Step S24, the similarity calculator 232 performs similaritycalculation processing.

[Similarity Calculation Processing]

Here, the similarity calculation processing will be described below withreference to a flowchart in FIG. 12.

In Step S51, the similarity calculator 232 extracts one of unprocessedface images of the registered players among the face images registeredin the biological information DB 22, and sets the extracted face imageto a processing target.

In Step S52, the similarity calculator 232 extracts the feature quantitysimilar to the feature quantity supplied by the feature quantityextraction unit 231 from the face image, which is set to the processingtarget and registered in the biological information DB 22.

In Step S53, the similarity calculator 232 calculates the sum ofabsolute differences, the average percentage, and the sum of ratios asthe degree of similarity using various face feature quantities, such asthe interval between the eyes and the ratio of the length from the chinto the forehead and the length from the chin to the nose, with respectto the face image supplied by the feature quantity extraction unit 231and the similar feature quantities in the face image registered in thebiological information DB 22. In Step S54, the similarity calculator 232supplies the degree of similarity to the face image, which is registeredin the biological information DB 22 as the calculation result, to thesimilarity determination unit 233, and the similarity calculator 232causes the similarity determination unit 233 to register the degree ofsimilarity in the buffer 233 a.

In Step S55, the similarity calculator 232 determines whether theunprocessed face image of the registered player exists in the biologicalinformation DB 22. When the unprocessed face image of the registeredplayer exists, the flow returns to the processing in Step S51. That is,the pieces of processing in Steps S51 to S55 are repeated until thedegree of similarity is calculated with respect to the face images ofall the registered players of the biological information DB 22. Thesimilarity calculation processing is ended when the similaritycalculator 232 determines that the unprocessed face image of theregistered player does not exist in the biological information DB 22 inStep S55.

Here, the description will return to the flowchart in FIG. 11.

In Step S25, the similarity determination unit 233 obtains an orderbased on the calculation result of the degree of similarity registeredin the buffer 233 a, and compares the degree of similarity of the topface image registered in the biological information DB 22 to apredetermined threshold. When the degree of similarity of the top faceimage registered in the biological information DB 22 is higher than thepredetermined threshold, the similarity determination unit 233 suppliesthe information on the degree of similarity of the face image and thepersonal ID that is of the information identifying the correspondingface image to the suspicious person determination unit 227. Thesuspicious person determination unit 227 obtains the personal IDcorresponding to the captured face image and the information on thedegree of similarity. When the degree of similarity is lower than thepredetermined threshold, the similarity determination unit 233determines that the face image is not the face image of the same person,and registers the face image in the unregistered player database (notillustrated). Accordingly, the case that the similar face image existsin the biological information DB 22 will be described below.

Due to the definition of the degree of similarity, the degree ofsimilarity with respect to the face image of the registered player mostsimilar to the captured face image is not limited to the degree ofsimilarity having the highest value. Therefore, sometimes a magnituderelationship between the degree of similarity and the threshold differsfrom that of this example.

In Step S26, the area specifying unit 229 specifies the area registeredin the area table 229 a based on the camera ID included in the suppliedimage, and supplies the information on the image capturing clock time tothe area movement history recording unit 228 together with theinformation on the specified area. For example, as illustrated in FIG.13, the area in which the image is captured with the camera having thecamera ID and the entrance or the exit are registered in the area tablewhile correlated with the camera ID. Accordingly, in FIG. 13, thecameras having the camera IDs 1 to 3 are the entrance cameras 40 in thestore. The cameras having the camera IDs 4 to 6 are the exit cameras 42in the store. The cameras having the camera IDs 7 and 8 are the in-storecameras 41 that are provided in the doorway of the corner in which theamusement machine 36 of the one yen per ball is placed in the store. Thecameras having the camera IDs 9 and 10 are the in-store cameras 41 thatare provided in the doorway of the corner in which the amusement machine36 of the four yen per ball is placed in the store. The camera havingthe camera ID 11 is the in-store camera 41 that is provided in theentrance of the toilet in the store. The cameras having the camera IDs12 to 15 are cameras 38 that are provided in the amusement machines 36having the amusement machine numbers 001 to 004.

In Step S27, the suspicious person determination unit 227 supplies theinformation on the obtained personal ID to the area movement historyrecording unit 228. The area movement history recording unit 228additionally registers the information on the area specified by the areaspecifying unit 229 in the area movement history DB 20 while correlatingthe information with the personal ID supplied by the suspicious persondetermination unit 227. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, date andtime information indicating the image capturing clock time and theinformation on the area specified by the camera ID are registered in thearea movement history DB 20 while correlated with the personal IDidentifying the person of the registered face image. For example, in atop line in FIG. 14, the face image of the person identified by thepersonal ID is captured at 10:00 on Oct. 1, 2010 with the entrancecamera 40 in the store, the person starts the game using the amusementmachine 36 having the machine number 001 at 10:01 on Oct. 5, 2010 andends the game at 10:06 on Oct. 5, 2010.

In Step S28, the suspicious person determination unit 227 determineswhether the face image is registered as the suspicious person in thebiological information DB 22 based on the personal ID. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 15, the face image and the suspicious person flagare the absences of registrations (a blank in FIG. 15), the provisionalregistrations, or the definitive registrations of the face image and thesuspicious person flag in the biological information DB 22 whilecorrelated with the personal ID. The definitive registration of thesuspicious person flag means information identifying the person of theface image identified by the personal ID as the suspicious person, andthe provisional registration of the suspicious person flag means a statein which the person is not the suspicious person but a candidate.Accordingly, for the personal IDs 1 and 3 in FIG. 15, the person isassumed to be the suspicious person, the processing goes to Step S29.

In Step S29, the suspicious person determination unit 227 activates analarm by displaying the detection of the suspicious person on thedisplay unit 23, and controls the communication unit 224 to transmit thedetection of the suspicious person to the mobile terminal 19 owned bythe staff.

In Step S30, the face image obtaining unit 221 determines whether theprocessing is performed to all the supplied face images. When theunprocessed face image exists, the processing returns to Step S22. Thatis, the pieces of processing in Steps S22 to S30 are repeated until theprocessing is performed to all the supplied face images. When the faceimage obtaining unit 221 determines that the processing is performed toall the face images, the flow returns to the processing in Step S21.

On the other hand, for example, when the definitive registration of thesuspicious person flag is not made in Step S28, the processing goes toStep S31.

In Step S31, the suspicious person determination unit 227 accesses thearea movement history DB 20 to determine whether the face image beingcurrently captured is the face image captured with the counter camera 43that captures the image in front of the premium exchange counter 113.That is, even if the suspicious person takes the illegal action, thegame ball or the medal is acquired by the illegal action, and it isnecessary for the suspicious person to exchange the game ball or themedal to the premium after the counting of the game ball or the medal inorder to obtain in-kind dividend or cash the game ball or the medal.Therefore, the suspicious person emerges at the premium exchange counter113. Whether the person emerges at the premium exchange counter 113 isone of criteria for determining whether the person is the suspiciousperson. Here, for example, when the face image is captured with thecamera except the counter camera 43, the processing goes to Step S36because a possibility of displaying the suspicious person cannot bedetermined.

In Step S36, the suspicious person determination unit 227 supplies theinformation on the supplied personal ID to the suspicious personregistration unit 223. The suspicious person registration unit 223controls the provisional registration determination unit 241 todetermine whether the person of the supplied personal ID is thesuspicious person. More specifically, the provisional registrationdetermination unit 241 obtains the information on the area that becomesthe movement history from the area movement history DB 20 based on thepersonal ID, and the provisional registration determination unit 241determines whether the provisional registration of the suspicious personflag is made based on whether the pattern of the area is matched withthe pattern of the pattern table 241 a in which the behavioral pattern(an area movement pattern obtained by the behavior of the suspiciousperson) of the suspicious person is stored. FIG. 16 illustrates anexample of the pattern table 241 a. From the left in FIG. 16, the piecesof information of the pattern, the threshold, and the number of timesare registered while correlated with the pattern ID. Specifically, forexample, for the pattern ID 1, that the provisional registration of thesuspicious person flag is made is determined when the person repeats theentrance and exit of the store at least three times per hour. Similarly,for the pattern ID 2, that the provisional registration of thesuspicious person flag is made is determined when the person repeats theentrance and exit of the store at least ten times per day. Similarly,for the pattern ID 3, that the provisional registration of thesuspicious person flag is made is determined when the person repeats theentrance and exit of the toilet at least five times per hour.

In Step S36, for example, as illustrated in parts A to C of the areamovement history DB 20 in FIG. 14, because the person of the personal ID1 has the record of three-time entrance and exit of the amusement shop,the person is matched with the pattern of the pattern ID 1, theprovisional registration of the suspicious person flag is assumed to bemade, and the processing goes to Step S37.

In Step S37, the provisional registration determination unit 241supplies the determination result that the provisional registrationshould be made to the provisional registration unit 242, and theprovisional registration determination unit 241 issues an instruction tothe provisional registration unit 242 to make the provisionalregistration. The provisional registration unit 242 accesses thebiological information DB 22, and the provisional registration unit 242registers the suspicious person flag while correlating the suspiciousperson flag with the personal ID as illustrated by, for example, thepersonal ID 2 or 5 in FIG. 15.

For example, when the provisional registration of the suspicious personflag is assumed not to be made in Step S36, the processing goes to StepS30.

When the determination that the image is captured with the countercamera 43 at the premium exchange counter 113 is made in Step S31, theprocessing goes to Step S32.

In Step S32, the suspicious person determination unit 227 supplies theinformation on the supplied personal ID to the suspicious personregistration unit 223. The suspicious person registration unit 223controls the definitive registration determination unit 243 to determinewhether the provisional registration of the suspicious person flag ismade for the person of the supplied personal ID. More specifically, thedefinitive registration determination unit 243 accesses the biologicalinformation DB 22 based on the personal ID, and determines whether theprovisional registration of the suspicious person flag is made. Forexample, when the provisional registration is made in Step S32, theprocessing goes to Step S33.

In Step S33, the definitive registration determination unit 243 accessesthe area movement history DB 20 based on the personal ID to specifywhich amusement machine the person plays the game with, and thedefinitive registration determination unit 243 makes an inquiry to theamusement shop management device 24 about specified amusement machine toobtain information on an exchange rate of the corresponding amusementmachine and pieces of game information, such as the number of game ballsacquired in the game by the player identified by the personal ID. Asused herein, the information on the exchange rate of the amusementmachine means information indicating the amusement machine in theone-yen corner of one yen per ball or the amusement machine in thefour-yen corner of four yen per ball, and the pieces of gameinformation, such as the number of acquired game balls means informationon the number of game balls paid by the amusement machine 36 with whichthe person of the personal ID plays the game. As to each piece ofinformation, the amusement machine 36 and the game time can be specifiedby accessing the area movement history DB 20 based on the pieces ofinformation on the area and the image capturing clock time with thecamera 38, which captures the image of the person identified by thepersonal ID and is placed in the amusement machine 36. Therefore, theidentified amusement machine 36 and the game time can be obtained bymaking the inquiry to the amusement shop management information 24.

In Step S34, the definitive registration determination unit 243determines whether the definitive registration of the suspicious personflag should be made based on whether the game information and thebehavioral pattern from the amusement shop management device 24 arematched with those recorded in the pattern table 243 a. For example, thepattern table 243 a is a table in FIG. 17. For the pattern ID 1, astaying time at the four-yen corner does not exist, but the exchangerate information is four yen, thereby making the definitive registrationof the suspicious person flag. For the pattern ID 2, the staying time atthe four-yen corner is less than 10 minutes, and the exchange rateinformation is four yen while the number of acquired game balls isgreater than or equal to 10000, thereby making the definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag. The exchange rate can berecognized by the record of the image captured by the in-store camera41-d in the counting machine 35 for one yen per ball or the in-storecamera 41-c in the counting machine 35 for four yen per ball.

When the definitive registration of the suspicious person flag should bemade in Step S34, the definitive registration determination unit 243notifies the definitive registration unit 244 that the definitiveregistration should be made and issues the instruction to the definitiveregistration unit 244 to make the definitive registration in Step S35.The definitive registration unit 244 accesses the biological informationDB 22 to make the definitive registration of the suspicious person flagof the corresponding personal ID.

When the provisional registration is not made in Step S32, or whenbehavioral pattern is not the pattern in which the definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag should be made in Step S34,the processing goes to Step S30.

Through the above pieces of processing, the suspicious person flag canbe added to the player who is assumed to take the illegal action in astepwise manner based on the area movement history of the area movementhistory DB 20. Particularly, in making the definitive registration ofthe suspicious person flag, the illegal action is completed byexchanging the amusement medium to the premium at the premium exchangecounter 113, and a damage is generated on the amusement shop side.Therefore, the definitive registration is made by the completion of theillegal action. Even if the illegal action is confirmed, as long as thearea pattern is matched with the behavioral pattern of the suspiciousperson while the amusement medium is exchanged to the premium, thesuspicious person flag is not immediately changed to the definitiveregistration but remains in the provisional registration. Therefore,even if the area pattern assumed to be the illegal action isincidentally detected to make the provisional registration of thesuspicious person flag, the definitive registration is not made unlessthe face image is captured at the premium exchange counter while thegame ball is illegally acquired, so that a risk of making the definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag for the person who does notactually take the illegal action can be decreased.

The provisional registration of the suspicious person flag is alsoconsidered that, because the person does not take the illegal action,the person is not the suspicious person when the suspicious person flagremains in the provisional registration for a predetermined period. Whenthe predetermined period elapses while the suspicious person flagremains in the provisional registration, the provisional registration ofthe suspicious person flag may be cancelled. For example, theinformation in which the provisional registration is made may becancelled at a time point when business is closed. In the abovedescription, the definitive registration of the suspicious person flagis made when the area pattern is matched with the behavioral pattern ofthe suspicious person while the image is captured at the premiumexchange counter 113. Alternatively, in order to simplify the processingto easily make the definitive registration of the suspicious personflag, the determination is not made by the behavioral pattern, but thedefinitive registration of the suspicious person flag may be made simplyby capturing the image of the person for which the provisionalregistration is made at the premium exchange counter 113. However, inthis case, because there is a risk of including the player who shouldnot be basically registered as the suspicious person, it is necessary topromote awareness when the suspicious person is detected.

When the person is detected by the face image after the definitiveregistration is made as the suspicious person, the alarm is quicklyactivated on the visit of the suspicious person. Therefore, theregistration of the suspicious person and the alarm activation of thevisit of the suspicious person can easily and properly be managed.

[Face Image Management Processing]

Face image management processing will be described below with referenceto a flowchart in FIG. 18. It is assumed that the face image managementprocessing is performed after the close of business. Alternatively, theface image management processing may be performed during business hours.

In Step S101, the entrance and exit matching unit 261 accesses the areamovement history DB 20 to search the personal ID of the face imagecaptured with the entrance camera 40. For example, the personal ID thatis classified into “enter store” as the area is searched in the areamovement history DB 20 in FIG. 14.

In Step S102, the entrance and exit matching unit 261 accesses the areamovement history DB 20 to search the personal ID of the face imagecaptured with the exit camera 42. That is, the personal ID that isclassified into “exit from store” as the area is searched in the areamovement history DB 20 in FIG. 14.

In Step S103, the entrance and exit matching unit 261 matches the faceimage of the searched personal ID among the face images captured withthe exit camera 42 against the face image of the searched personal ID inthe face images captured with the entrance camera 40, and searches theface image captured with the exit camera 42, which is not matched withthe face image captured with the entrance camera 40. The face imagematching is performed through the same processing in the matching unit222, and the description of the processing is omitted.

In Step S104, the entrance and exit matching unit 261 determines whetherthe mismatched face image exists as a result of the search. When themismatched face image exists, the entrance and exit matching unit 261stores the personal ID of the face image captured with the mismatchedexit camera 42 as a mismatched exit matching result in Step S105. On theother hand, when no mismatched face image exists, the processing in StepS105 is skipped.

In Step S106, the entrance and in-store matching unit 262 accesses thearea movement history DB 20 to search the personal ID of the face imagecaptured with the entrance camera 40. For example, the personal ID thatis classified into “enter store” as the area is searched in the areamovement history DB 20 in FIG. 14.

In Step S107, the entrance and in-store matching unit 262 accesses thearea movement history DB 20 to search the personal ID of the face imagecaptured with the in-store camera 41. For example, the personal ID thatis classified into “enter one-yen corner”, “starts game with amusementmachine having machine number 001”, and “ends game with amusementmachine having machine number 001” as the area is searched in the areamovement history DB 20 in FIG. 14.

In Step S108, the entrance and in-store matching unit 262 matches theface image of the searched personal ID among the face images capturedwith the in-store camera 41 against the face image of the searchedpersonal ID in the face images captured with the entrance camera 40, andsearches the face image captured with the in-store camera 41, which isnot matched with the face image captured with the entrance camera 40.The face image matching is performed through the same processing as thematching unit 222, and the description of the processing is omitted.

In Step S109, the entrance and in-store matching unit 262 determineswhether the mismatched face image exists as a result of the search. Whenthe mismatched face image exists, the entrance and in-store matchingunit 262 stores the personal ID of the face image captured with themismatched in-store camera 41 as a mismatched in-store matching resultin Step S110. On the other hand, when no mismatched face image exists,the processing in Step S110 is skipped.

In Step S111, among the face images of the personal IDs that become themismatched exit matching result, the exit and in-store matching unit 263searches the face image matched with the face image of the personal IDof the mismatched in-store matching result by the matching. In StepS112, the exit and in-store matching unit 263 determines whether theface image of the personal ID that becomes the mismatched exit matchingresult is matched with the face image of the personal ID of themismatched in-store matching result. When the face image of the personalID that becomes the mismatched exit matching result is matched with theface image of the personal ID of the mismatched in-store matching resultin Step S112, the processing goes to Step S113. When the face image ofthe personal ID that becomes the mismatched exit matching result is notmatched with the face image of the personal ID of the mismatchedin-store matching result in Step S112, the processing ends.

In Step S113, among the face images of the personal IDs that become themismatched in-store matching result, the exit and in-store matching unit263 searches the face image matched with the face image of the personalID of the mismatched exit matching result by the matching. In Step S114,the exit and in-store matching unit 263 determines whether the faceimage of the personal ID that becomes the mismatched in-store matchingresult is matched with the face image of the personal ID of themismatched exit matching result. When the face image of the personal IDthat becomes the mismatched in-store matching result is matched with theface image of the personal ID of the mismatched exit matching result inStep S114, the processing goes to Step S115. When the face image of thepersonal ID that becomes the mismatched in-store matching result is notmatched with the face image of the personal ID of the mismatched exitmatching result in Step S114, the processing ends. The face imagematching performed in Steps S111 and S113 is similar to that performedby the matching unit 222, the description thereof is omitted.

In Step S115, the entrance information registration unit 264 merges(unites) the mismatched in-store matching result and the mismatched exitmatching result.

In Step S116, the entrance information registration unit 264 accessesthe area movement history DB 20 to search the personal ID of the faceimage having the earliest image capturing clock time and the personal IDof the face image having the image capturing clock time closest to thatof the face image captured with the entrance camera 40 among the piecesof face image information in which the mismatched in-store matchingresult and the mismatched exit matching result are merged. The entranceinformation registration unit 264 accesses the biological information DB22, and the entrance information registration unit 264 registers theface image information, which is registered while correlated with thesearched personal ID, while replacing the face image information withone of the face images in each of which the mismatched in-store matchingresult and the mismatched exit matching result are merged.

In Step S117, the entrance information registration unit 264 replacesthe personal ID of the face image, in which the mismatched in-storematching result and the mismatched exit matching result are merged, withthe personal ID of the face image having the earliest image capturingclock time and the personal ID of the face image having the imagecapturing clock time closest to that of the face image captured with theentrance camera 40 among the face images in each of which the mismatchedin-store matching result and the mismatched exit matching result aremerged.

The above processing is described as follows.

As illustrated by “entrance and exit matching” in an upper left portionin FIG. 19, the face images of the personal IDs 1 to 5 illustrated by“entrance detection information” can be correctly recognized among theface images captured with the entrance camera 40. In such cases, thedegree of similarity between each of the face images of the personal IDs10 to 15 captured with the exit camera 42 and the face imagescorresponding to the persons captured with the entrance camera 40 andthe in-store camera 41 is obtained, and the personal ID having the topdegree of similarity is displayed in FIG. 19 as “exit matching result”together with the degree of similarity. At this point, on the left in“exit matching result”, the personal IDs of the face images having thetop degrees of similarity to all the face images captured with theentrance camera 40 are registered as “entrance matching result” togetherwith the degrees of similarity while correlated with the personal IDs ofthe face images captured with the exit camera 42. On the right in “exitmatching result”, the personal IDs of the face images having the topdegrees of similarity to all the face images captured with the in-storecamera 41 are registered as “in-store matching result” together with thedegrees of similarity while correlated with the personal IDs of the faceimages captured with the exit camera 42. For example, for the personalID 10 of the face image captured with exit camera 41, the face image hasthe highest degree of similarity to the face image of the personal ID 1among the face images captured with the entrance camera 40, and thedegree of similarity is 800. For the personal ID 10 of the face imagecaptured with exit camera 41, the face image has the highest degree ofsimilarity to the face image of the personal ID 20 in the face imagescaptured with the in-store camera 41, and the degree of similarity is800. In this case, the degree of similarity is expressed in the range of0 to 1000, and the degree of similarity increases with increasingnumerical value.

For example, it is assumed that the person of the face image, which hasthe personal ID 13 and is captured with the exit camera 42, is unclearlycaptured with the entrance camera 40 due to the backlight or theoverexposure. In such cases, the face image, which has the personal ID13 and is captured with the exit camera 42, has the highest degree ofsimilarity to the face image, which has the personal ID 3 and iscaptured with the entrance camera 40. However, the degree of similarityis about around 100 in which the face images cannot be recognized to besimilar to each other. Therefore, because the face image, which iscaptured with the exit camera 42 and has the personal ID 13, is the faceimage unclearly captured with the entrance camera 40, the face image,which is captured with the exit camera 42 and has the personal ID 13, isdealt with as the face image that is not matched with any face imagescaptured with exit camera 42 through the pieces of processing in StepsS101 to S105. Therefore, the face image, which is captured with the exitcamera 42 and has the personal ID 13, is extracted as the mismatchedexit matching result as surrounded by a thick-line frame.

Similarly, as illustrated in “entrance and in-store matching” in anupper right portion of FIG. 19, for example, it is assumed that theperson of the face image, which has the personal ID 23 and is capturedwith the in-store camera 41, is unclearly captured with the entrancecamera 40 due to the backlight or the overexposure. In such cases, theface image, which has the personal ID 23 and is captured with thein-store camera 41, has the highest degree of similarity to the faceimage, which has the personal ID 2 and is captured with the entrancecamera 40. However, the degree of similarity is about around 90 in whichthe face images cannot be recognized to be similar to each other.Therefore, because the face image, which is captured with the in-storecamera 41 and has the personal ID 23, is the face image unclearlycaptured with the entrance camera 40, the face image, which is capturedwith the in-store camera 41 and has the personal ID 23, is dealt with asthe face image that is not matched with any face images captured withentrance camera 40 through the pieces of processing in Steps S106 toS110. Therefore, the face image, which is captured with the in-storecamera 41 and has the personal ID 23, is extracted as the mismatchedin-store matching result as surrounded by a thick-line frame.

As illustrated in “exit and in-store matching” in a second line from thetop of FIG. 19, using the mismatched exit matching result and themismatched in-store matching result that are extracted as describedabove, the personal IDs 13 and 23 illustrated as “in-store detectioninformation” and “exit detection information” are extracted as thepersonal IDs when the face images are captured with the in-store camera41 and the exit camera 42

The face image that becomes the mismatched in-store matching result andthe face image that becomes the mismatched exit matching result arematched against each other through the pieces of processing in StepsS111 to S114. When the face image that becomes the mismatched in-storematching result and the face image that becomes the mismatched exitmatching result are matched with each other, as indicated by the frameof “exit and in-store matching” in FIG. 19, the face images managed bythe personal IDs 13 and 23 are merged through the processing in StepS115 to generate the face image, which is captured with the new entrancecamera 40 and has the personal ID 100. At this point, based on themismatched exit matching result, the degree of similarity between theface image, which is captured with the exit camera 42 and has thepersonal ID 13, and the face image, which is captured with the in-storecamera 41 and has the personal ID 23, becomes 960, and the face imagescan be assumed to be matched with each other. On the other hand, basedon the mismatched in-store matching result, the degree of similaritybetween the face image, which is captured with the in-store camera 41and has the personal ID 23, and the face image, which is captured withthe exit camera 42 and has the personal ID 13, becomes 820, and the faceimages can be assumed to be matched with each other. The pieces ofprocessing in Steps S111 and S112 and the pieces of processing in StepsS113 and S114 are aimed at the matching between the face image thatbecomes the mismatched in-store matching result and the face image thatbecomes the mismatched exit matching result, and no problem is generatedby performing either the pieces of processing in Steps S111 and S112 orthe pieces of processing in Steps S113 and S114. In this case, thepieces of processing in Steps S111 and S112 and the pieces of processingin Steps S113 and S114 are performed twice in order to improvereliability.

The face images, which are obtained through the above pieces ofprocessing and managed by the personal IDs 13 and 23, are unclearlycaptured with the entrance camera 40. Therefore, the face imagescaptured with the in-store camera 41 and the exit camera 42 exist whilethe face image captured with the corresponding entrance camera 40 doesnot exist.

Among the face images managed by the personal IDs 13 and 23, because ofthe unclear face image, which is captured with the entrance camera 40 atthe clock time closest to the clock time at which the face image isinitially captured, there is a high probability that the face image isnot captured with the in-store camera 41 or the exit camera 42.Therefore, among the face images managed by the personal IDs 13 and 23,one of the face images managed by the personal IDs 13 and 23 isregistered as the face image, which is captured with the entrance camera40 and has the personal ID, for example, 100, in the biologicalinformation DB 22 at the clock time closest to the clock time at whichthe face image is initially captured through the processing in StepS116.

As illustrated in the lowest portion of FIG. 19, the face image thatcannot be clearly captured at first with the entrance camera 40 can bemanaged while replaced with the clear image captured with the in-storecamera 41 or the exit camera 42 through the processing in Step S116. Inthis case, for example, as illustrated in a lower right portion of FIG.19, the face image, which is captured with the entrance camera 40 andmanaged by the personal ID 100, is registered as the face image, whichis captured with the entrance camera 40 and has the personal ID 3 or 4at the clock time close to the clock time at which the face images ofthe personal IDs 13 and 23 are captured. The face image managed by thepersonal ID 100 is registered as the face image that has the degree ofsimilarity of 1000 to the face image, which is captured with thein-store camera 41 and has the personal ID 23, namely, as the face imagecompletely matched with the face image, which is captured with thein-store camera 41 and has the personal ID 23. Similarly, the face imagemanaged by the personal ID 100 is registered as the face image that hasthe degree of similarity of 1000 to the face image, which is capturedwith the exit camera 42 and has the personal ID 13, namely, as the faceimage completely matched with the face image, which is captured with theexit camera 42 and has the personal ID 13.

The personal ID is replaced through the processing in Step S117 suchthat the face images captured with the in-store camera 41 and the exitcamera 42 are managed while correlated with the personal ID of thebiological information DB 22, which is replaced with the clear faceimage. Therefore, the information managed by the face image in the storecan be commonly managed by the face image captured with the entrancecamera 40 and the personal ID of the face image. As a result, forexample, the management information on each player in the store cancommonly be managed by the personal ID, which is added when the personis captured with the entrance camera 40.

Second Embodiment [Configuration Example of Monitoring System of SecondEmbodiment]

In the first embodiment, by way of example, the definitive registrationof the suspicious person flag is made, when the counter camera 43 at thepremium exchange counter 113 captures the person for whom theprovisional registration of the suspicious person flag is made, and whenthe person takes the predetermined behavioral pattern. In registeringthe suspicious person flag, sometimes it is necessary to make thedefinitive registration of the suspicious person flag by other thingsexcept the behavioral pattern. The staff is notified of the necessity tomake the definitive registration, and the definitive registration may bemade in the judgment of the staff.

FIG. 20 illustrates a configuration example of the biologicalinformation recognizer 21. In the biological information recognizer 21,when the person for whom the provisional registration of the suspiciousperson flag is made and which is captured with the counter camera 43 atthe premium exchange counter 113 is the predetermined behavioralpattern, the staff is notified of the necessity to make the definitiveregistration and the definitive registration can be made in the judgmentof the staff. In the biological information recognizer 21 in FIG. 20,the configuration including the same function as the biologicalinformation recognizer 21 in FIG. 10 is designated by the same name andsymbol, and the description is appropriately omitted.

The biological information recognizer 21 in FIG. 20 differs from thebiological information recognizer 21 in FIG. 10 in that a definitiveregistration processing unit 291 is provided instead of the definitiveregistration determination unit 243. When being notified of the faceimage, which is captured with the counter camera 43 and in which theprovisional registration of the suspicious person flag is made, thedefinitive registration processing unit 291 accesses the area movementhistory DB 20 and the biological information DB 22, and reads a movementhistory of the area where the face image is captured. The area movementhistory is registered while correlated with the personal ID identifyingthe face image. Then the definitive registration processing unit 291generates a display image including information encouraging the staff todetermine whether the definitive registration of the suspicious personflag is made, and display the display image on the display unit 23. Thedefinitive registration processing unit 291 makes the definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag in the biological informationDB 22 based on a manipulation signal that is generated by themanipulation unit 225 in response to the manipulation of the staff.

[Monitoring Processing Performed by Biological Information Recognizer 21in FIG. 20]

Monitoring processing performed by the biological information recognizer21 in FIG. 20 will be described below with reference to a flowchart inFIG. 21. The pieces of processing in Steps S201 to S204 and Steps S221to S232, S236, and S237 in FIG. 21 are similar to those in Steps S1 toS4 and Steps S21 to S32, S36, and S37 in FIG. 11, the description isomitted.

When the provisional registration is made in Step S232, the definitiveregistration processing unit 291 is notified the face image that becomesthe matching result in Step S233, the definitive registration processingunit 291 accesses the area movement history DB 20 reads the movementhistory of the area where the face image is captured. The area movementhistory is registered while correlated with the personal ID identifyingthe face image. Then the definitive registration processing unit 291generates a display image 301 in FIG. 22 that encourages the staff todetermine whether the definitive registration is made, and display thedisplay image 301 on the display unit 23. FIG. 22 illustrates a displayexample of the display image 301. A face image display field 311 isprovided in the left portion, and the face image, which is registered inthe biological information DB 22 while correlated with the personal IDin which the provisional registration of the suspicious person flag ismade, is displayed in the face image display field 311. An area movementhistory field 312 is provided on the right of the face image displayfield 311, and the area movement history, which is registered in thearea movement history DB 20 while correlated with the personal ID inwhich the provisional registration of the suspicious person flag ismade, is displayed in the area movement history field 312. A button 313on which “register person as suspicious person” is written and a button314 on which “do not register” is written are provided below the areamovement history field 312. The button 313 is pressed when the staffmanipulates the suspicious person flag of the person displayed on thedisplay image 301 from the provisional registration to the definitiveregistration, and the button 314 is pressed when the staff does not makethe definitive registration of the suspicious person flag.

In Step S234, the definitive registration processing unit 291 determineswhether the manipulation unit 225 is manipulated to issue theinstruction to make the definitive registration of the suspicious personflag. For example, when the button 313 in FIG. 22 is pressed to issuethe instruction of the definitive registration in Step S234, thedefinitive registration processing unit 291 notifies the definitiveregistration unit 244 that the instruction to make the definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag is issued in Step S235. Inresponse to the notification, the definitive registration unit 244accesses the biological information DB 22 to set the suspicious personflag to the definitive registration.

On the other hand, for example, when the button 314 is pressed todetermine that the definitive registration of the suspicious person flagis not made in Step S234, the processing in Step S235 is skipped.

When the face image of the person in which the provisional registrationof the suspicious person flag is made is captured with the countercamera 43 near the premium exchange counter 113, the image making aninquiry to determine whether the definitive registration of thesuspicious person flag is made to the staff is displayed together withthe area movement history of the person through the above pieces ofprocessing. The definitive registration of the suspicious person flagcan be made when the staff issues the instruction to make the definitiveregistration in response to the inquiry. As a result, the definitiveregistration of the suspicious person flag can be made after the staffproperly makes the determination while seeing the area movement history.

In the above description, by way of example, the face image unclearlycaptured with the entrance camera 40 is reregistered by the face imagescaptured with the in-store camera 41 and the exit camera 42.Alternatively, other camera images except the face images captured withthe in-store camera 41 and the exit camera 42 may be used. For example,the image of the camera 38 placed in the amusement machine 36 may beused. The unclear face image captured with the camera except theentrance camera 40 may be reregistered using the face image clearlycaptured with another camera.

As described above, the visit of the player can be properly managed andthe illegal action of the suspicious person can properly be monitoredsuch that the registered face image can properly be managed while theface image of the person to be registered is correctly registered.

The above sequence of pieces of monitoring processing can be performedby either hardware or software. In the case where the sequence of piecesof processing is performed by the software, a program constituting thesoftware is installed from a recording medium to a computer incorporatedin dedicated hardware or a general-purpose personal computer in whichvarious functions can be performed by installing various programs.

FIG. 23 illustrates a configuration example of the general-purposepersonal computer. The personal computer is provided with a CPU (CentralProcessing Unit) 1001. An input/output interface 1005 is connected tothe CPU 1001 through a bus 1004. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 1002 and a RAM(Random Access Memory) 1003 are connected to the bus 1004.

An input unit 1006, an output unit 1007, a storage unit 1008, and acommunication unit 1009 are connected to the input/output interface1005. The input unit 1006 includes input devices, such as the keyboardand the mouse, through which the user inputs an operating command. Theoutput unit 1007 outputs the image of a processing operating screen or aprocessing result to the display device. The storage unit 1008 includesa hard disk drive in which the program and various pieces of data arestored. The communication unit 1009 includes a LAN (Local Area Network)adapter to perform communication processing through the network typifiedby the Internet. A drive 1010 is connected to the input/output interface1005. The drive 1010 reads and writes the data from and in removablemediums 1011, such as a magnetic disk (including a flexible disk), anoptical disk (including a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) and aDVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), a magneto-optical disk (including a MD(Mini Disc)), and a semiconductor memory.

The CPU 1001 performs various pieces of processing according to theprogram stored in the ROM 1002 or the program, which is read from theremovable mediums 1011, such as the magnetic disk, the optical disk, themagneto-optical disk, and the semiconductor memory, installed in thestorage unit 1008, and loaded from the storage unit 1008 to the RAM1003. The data necessary for the CPU 1001 to perform various pieces ofprocessing are properly stored in the RAM 1003. The removable mediums1011 can be any form of tangible, non-transitory computer-readablemedium.

In the present description, the step that describes the program recordedin the recording medium includes not only the processing that isperformed in time series in the described order but also the processingthat is not necessarily performed in time series but concurrently orindividually performed.

In the present description, the system means the whole apparatusincluding a plurality of apparatuses.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS

-   -   1, 1-1 to 1-n Amusement shop    -   2 Biological information management center    -   3 Biological information management database    -   4 Third-party amusement shop management center    -   5 Third-party amusement shop management database    -   6 Biological information management bus    -   7 Third-party amusement shop management bus    -   8, 9 Public communication line network    -   21 Biological information recognizer    -   22 Biological information database    -   24 Amusement shop management device    -   26 Amusement machine management database    -   27 Medium lending management device    -   29 Medium lending management database    -   30 Amusement shop management information bus    -   31 Biological information bus    -   33 Adjustment/vending machine    -   34 Lending machine    -   35, 35-1, 35-2 Counting machine    -   36, 36-1 to 36-m Amusement machine    -   37, 37-1 to 37-m Amusement machine peripheral terminal    -   38, 38-1 to 38-m Camera    -   39, 39-1 to 39-(m+p+q+r+1) Image processing unit    -   40, 40-1 to 40-p Entrance camera    -   41, 41-1 to 41-q In-store camera    -   42, 42-1 to 42-r Exit camera    -   43 Counter camera

1. A monitoring apparatus comprising: a plurality of image capturersconfigured to capture a face image of a matching target person in atleast first to third areas; storage configured to store the face imageof the matching target person captured in each of the first to thirdareas in a database together with information identifying each of thefirst to third areas; a first search unit configured to match the faceimages captured in the first area among the face images registered inthe database against the face images captured in the second area, andsearching a first mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area for all the face images capturedin the second area; a second search unit configured to match the faceimages captured in the first area among the face images registered inthe database against the face images captured in the third area, andsearching a second mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the third area; a third search unit configured to search a matchedface image, which is matched with the second mismatched face image,among the first mismatched face images; and a registration unitconfigured to register the matched face image searched by the thirdsearch unit in the database as the face image captured in the firstarea.
 2. The monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theregistration unit registers the matched face image searched by the thirdsearch unit in the database as the face image captured in the first areainstead of the face image, which is not matched with both the faceimages captured in the second area and the face images captured in thethird area, among the face images captured in the first area.
 3. Themonitoring apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the plurality ofimage capturers captures a face image of a player who visits anamusement shop from an entrance of the amusement shop in the first area,captures the face image of the player who moves in the amusement shop inthe second area, and captures the face image of the player who leavesthe amusement shop from an exit in the third area.
 4. The monitoringapparatus according to claim 3, wherein the registration unit registersthe matched face image searched by the third search unit in the databaseas the face image captured at the entrance instead of the face image,which is not matched with both the face images captured in the amusementshop and the face images captured at the exit, among the face imagescaptured at the entrance.
 5. The monitoring apparatus according to claim4, wherein the registration unit registers the matched face image in thedatabase instead of the face image, which is captured at the entrance ata clock time close to a clock time at which the matched face imagesearched by the third search unit is initially captured, among the faceimages each of which is not matched with both the face images capturedin the amusement shop and the face images captured at the exit among theface images captured at the entrance.
 6. A method for monitoring amonitoring apparatus comprising: a plurality of image capturersconfigured to capture a face image of a matching target person in atleast first to third areas; storage configured to store the face imageof the matching target person captured in each of the first to thirdareas in a database together with information identifying each of thefirst to third areas; a first search unit configured to match the faceimages captured in the first area among the face images registered inthe database against the face images captured in the second area, andsearching a first mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the second area; a second search unit configured to match the faceimages captured in the first area among the face images registered inthe database against the face images captured in the third area, andsearching a second mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the third area; a third search unit configured to search a matchedface image, which is matched with the second mismatched face image, inthe first mismatched face images; and a registration unit configured toregister the matched face image searched by the third search unit in thedatabase as the face image captured in the first area, the monitoringapparatus monitoring method comprising: an image capturing step, in theplurality of image capturers, of capturing the face image of thematching target person in at least the first to third areas; a storagestep, in the storage, of storing the face image of the matching targetperson captured in each of the first to third areas in the databasetogether with the information identifying each of the first to thirdareas; a first search step, in the first search unit, of matching theface images captured in the first area among the face images registeredin the database against the face images captured in the second area, andsearching the first mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the second area; a second search step, in the second search unit, ofmatching the face images captured in the first area among the faceimages registered in the database against the face images captured inthe third area, and searching the second mismatched face image that isnot matched with the face images captured in the first area from all theface images captured in the third area; a third search step, in thethird search unit, of searching the matched face image, which is matchedwith the second mismatched face image, among the first mismatched faceimages; and a registration step, in the registration unit, ofregistering the matched face image searched by the third search stepprocessing in the database as the face image captured in the first area.7. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing acomputer to perform processing, the computer controlling a monitoringapparatus comprising: a plurality of image capturers unit configured tocapture a face image of a matching target person in at least first tothird areas; storage configured to store the face image of the matchingtarget person captured in each of the first to third areas in a databasetogether with information identifying each of the first to third areas;a first search unit configured to match the face images captured in thefirst area among the face images registered in the database against theface images captured in the second area, and searching a firstmismatched face image that is not matched with the face images capturedin the first area from all the face images captured in the second area;a second search unit configured to match the face images captured in thefirst area among the face images registered in the database against theface images captured in the third area, and searching a secondmismatched face image that is not matched with the face images capturedin the first area from all the face images captured in the third area; athird search unit configured to search a matched face image, which ismatched with the second mismatched face image, among the firstmismatched face images; and a registration unit configured to registerthe matched face image searched by the third search unit in the databaseas the face image captured in the first area, the processing including:an image capturing step, in the plurality of image capturers, ofcapturing the face image of the matching target person in at least thefirst to third areas; a storage step, in the storage, of storing theface image of the matching target person captured in each of the firstto third areas in the database together with the information identifyingeach of the first to third areas; a first search step, in the firstsearch unit, of matching the face images captured in the first areaamong the face images registered in the database against the face imagescaptured in the second area, and searching the first mismatched faceimage that is not matched with the face images captured in the firstarea from all the face images captured in the second area; a secondsearch step, in the second search unit, of matching the face imagescaptured in the first area among the face images registered in thedatabase against the face images captured in the third area, andsearching the second mismatched face image that is not matched with theface images captured in the first area from all the face images capturedin the third area; a third search step, in the third search unit, ofsearching the matched face image, which is matched with the secondmismatched face image, in the first mismatched face images; and aregistration step, in the registration unit, of registering the matchedface image searched by the third search step processing in the databaseas the face image captured in the first area.